Geophagy

What an intellect has Le Bon David! said Pliny admiringly.

You think so? I said. Don't you find him a little bit pompous?

Certainly not, replied Pliny, I find him a man after my own heart. In particular I am in complete accord with him on the matter of scepticism.

You, Pliny! Aren't your Natural Histories full of hearsay and unsubstantiated stories? Please don't take offence, I added.

The ability to read my Natural Histories in the spirit intended is not given to everyone, he said enigmatically.

Is it given to me? I asked.

No, he answered. You always seem to delight in taking me literally. But there is no point continuing with this. Did you know there was a fly on the window?

Yes, I can't seem to get it to go outside by natural means, I said. I'm quite disappointed, because I had hoped the glass Sulphur Crested Cockatoo would scare the flies away. He looks quite realistic don't you think?

No, said Pliny, he doesn't, being two-dimensional. And anyway, I do not think that Sulphur Crested Cockatoos eat flies.

What do they eat then, Pliny?

I believe, said Pliny sagely, that they are known to practice geophagy.